Singer K.d. Lang Ventures Into New Country

June 28, 1992|by AMY LONGSDORF

Small talk -- k.d. lang doesn't care much for it. At least not this afternoon, when the "very tired" singer finds herself in the lobby of a noisy Manhattan hotel enduring the first, but probably not the last, telephone interview of the day.

In between shows in Massachusetts and Maine, lang -- no capital letters, please -- seems determined to sidestep any attempt at a little conversation.

Where exactly is she calling from? "Why do you want to know?" lang wonders. "That's just boring information."

Hmmmm, this is not going to be easy. Then again, lang has never played by the rules. Five years ago, when she showed up on the conservative country-music scene, she made no attempts to conceal her androgyny or her animal-rights activism.

Then, earlier this year, she switched musical genres altogether, trading in her patented brand of torch and twang for lounge-pop balladry. As lang sees it, she's simply made the album she wanted to make -- now, as always, rolling the music-biz dice her way.

"Controversy is not something I try and conjure up," says the 30-year-old lang, who'll appear Wednesday night at the State Theatre in Easton. "But it does have its good points and its bad points. It gets you publicity, but you're taking a risk with your career."

Risks? lang could write a book. The shots of the singer caressing a woman's slip in her "So In Love" video became endless grist for the gossip mills. But these days lang is even more forthright about her sexual orientation. Two weeks ago, she outed herself in the pages of The Advocate, a national gay magazine.

"I was prepared to do the interview because I felt it was time to take responsibility for my own life," she says. "And hopefully people will focus on my music instead of my personal life."

On "Ingenue," her fourth major-label release, lang kisses off country music in favor of a melange of cabaret crooning, South American tango and flossy pop. The album's dreamy, almost woozy, sound wouldn't be out of place in a Las Vegas lounge -- or in the record collection of a Percy Faith fan.

The theme of "Ingenue" is the exploration of obsessive love -- a search that begins with a catalog of personal desires and doubts. lang, who wrote or co-wrote all of the disc's 10 tunes, says the music was inspired by a "pure, unrequited, unconsummated" love.

"The record is about me more than it's about the other person," she insists. "It's about an artist writing about love. People don't have to know about me to enjoy the record."

While lang was mulling over a musical about-face, she was approached by AIDS activists to contribute a Cole Porter song to the "Red, Hot Blue" collection. Her recording of "So In Love" now seems like a musical turning point.

"Not exactly," she says. "But it was a stepping stone between the country stuff and `Ingenue.' And it was a way of trying out some of the musicians I wanted to work with on the new record.

"The change was a necessity," she adds. "It's not really a question of disillusionment (with country music). I think the passion just subsided. It was like the end of a love affair and we each went our separate ways. I had to follow my instincts and see what else was inside."

The singer's country albums for Sire Records -- "Angel With A Lariat," "Shadowland" and "Absolute Torch and Twang" -- were mostly praised by critics as spunky showcases for her vocal virtuosity. Even Madonna offered her blessing, calling lang "the next Elvis" after catching one of her high-powered performances.

In retrospect, lang believes she enjoyed "a user-friendly relationship" with Nashville. "I was successful and able to maintain an alternative edge. And I think they liked the fact that I was able to attract new listeners and new viewers. I really only had trouble getting on the radio."

lang's problems with radio programmers reached a crescendo during the beef brouhaha of 1989. It all began when the singer, a longtime vegetarian, agreed to appear in an anti-meat ad for PETA (People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals). A coalition of beef industry bigwigs protested and several radio stations responded by pulling lang's songs off their playlists.

But in the end, the flames of the beef controversy, stoked endlessly by "Entertainment Tonight," wound up boosting lang's profile. For several months, her record sales quadrupled.

"I was already out of Nashville by the time the ad ran," she says. "But all the controversy was another indication to me that something was wrong."

When she's not on the road, lang, a native of Consort, Canada, splits her time between a home in the Hollywood Hills and a ranch in Vancouver, where her entourage includes a pig, a goat, three horses and four dogs.

She counts "walking, cooking and riding my Harley" as preferred pastimes. There's little chance she'll add movie-making to that inventory. lang has already starred in a film, the Percy Aldon-directed "Salmonberries," but she's not looking for another acting assignment anytime soon.

"My first and foremost feeling about the movie is that I had a good experience making it and that it enriched me as an artist," she says about the drama which has yet to attract an American distributor despire a successful art-house run in London.

"Making movies is intriguing but, really, music is where it's at for me."